BG Reads 10.26.2023

🗞️ BG Reads | News - October 26, 2023

October 26, 2023

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October 26, 2023

In today's BG Reads:

âś… Following ACL Fest, parks board calls for close look at Zilker Park health

âś… Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas House deadlocked on school choice, teacher bonuses  

âś… New US House speaker tried to help overturn the 2020 election

Read on!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

Council to consider city manager search firm this week 🎙️ BG Podcast Ep. 222:

  • On this episode the Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham and Associate Hannah Garcia wrap up the week of October 9th in Austin politics.

  • The BG Podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

🔎 Jobs List

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Redevelopment partner wanted to help transform downtown's First Baptist of Austin church (Austin Business Journal)

A downtown Austin ministry wants to redevelop the 1.7-acre site its church stands on to better serve the public, and it's looking for a partner to help bring its vision to life.

First Baptist Church of Austin, located on a full block at 901 Trinity St., is seeking a partner to redevelop the property not just as a place of worship but also one that will meet downtown’s needs for affordable space for child care, arts venues and public gatherings, according to an Oct. 18 announcement.

“The idea that this property should serve the public dates all the way back to Austin’s founding, and we take that very seriously,” said First Austin senior pastor Griff Martin said in a statement. “It would be much easier to sell the entire property to a developer, but we are committed to fulfilling that civic vision as well as our faith-based values. We just need a community-minded partner to make it happen.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

346-acre Caldwell County project part of $15B plan to build 'mini cities' around Austin (Austin Business Journal)

On the heels of announcing a plan to invest $15 billion to essentially build 10 mini-cities around Central Texas, it might come as a surprise to hear Red Oak Development Group CEO Tom Staub admit he fully understands he didn't pick a great time to do it.

He listed off the reasons: Many developers are not buying land because of high prices. Builders are being cautious about what projects they are taking on because of rising construction costs. Existing home sales are reaching decades-long lows. Mortgage rates at 8% are making home-buying difficult, and more.

"It seems so contrarian to go out there and do this now," Staub said. "But doing this now puts lots on the ground in 12-to-18 months. So, really, it's positioning ourselves to have the bulk of supply in Austin for builders going into 2025 and 2026. So timing couldn't be worse if you're thinking right now, but it couldn't be better two or three years out."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Following ACL Fest, parks board calls for close look at Zilker Park health (Austin Monitor)

Amid concerns over the impact on Zilker Park from this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival, city parks staff said they have conducted the annual review of the festival and are beginning the work needed to replenish the park. The cost for aerating the soil and other restorative measures will be paid for by concert promoter C3 Presents/Live Nation.

Monday’s meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board featured a presentation from the Parks and Recreation Department, which works closely alongside festival staff to identify areas in need of repair before and after the six-day festival.

Jason Maurer, PARD’s sales and event manager, said parks staff began conducting a detailed inspection of Zilker Park following the final day of loadout last Friday. That multiday process results in a detailed list of steps the city or appropriate vendors will complete to help the park recuperate from having tens of thousands of visitors on the Great Lawn for two weekends each October. As per the city’s agreement, the event promoter pays for all of those costs, Maurer said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas House deadlocked on school choice, teacher bonuses (Dallas Morning News)

Gov. Greg Abbott wants a voucherlike plan passed first. The House, though, is balking. The Republican-controlled chamber’s leaders want money for teacher bonuses and an overhaul of public school accountability passed in tandem with Abbott’s proposed education savings accounts, which would allow some parents to tap state funds to pay for private school tuition, books and other materials, such as uniforms. But Abbott hasn’t yet added either the money or changes eagerly sought by public school leaders to the agenda of the year’s third special session, which can’t last beyond Nov. 7. In such overtime sessions, bills can’t become law that aren’t related to the topics a governor chooses. Instead of bowing to the House’s wishes, Abbott has insisted that a bill for “parental empowerment,” using taxpayer funds, be passed first. The clock is ticking. Wednesday marked Day 17 of the special session. Such sessions cannot last more than 30 days.

And neither side is blinking. The House has not begun moving any education bills. Abbott has not enlarged the session’s “call,” or agenda, to include school finance and accountability. “It seems it’s dead for this session,” said Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson, who’s tracked the history of the Legislature’s funding of public schools since 1949. Abbott may be “committing political malpractice” by demanding a voucherlike program that’s open to hundreds of thousands of Texas families, Jillson said. Other states started small with their education savings accounts, then gradually expanded them, he noted.

“He’s got to get the camel’s nose under the tent before he can get the animal inside,” Jillson said of Abbott. Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze did not immediately respond to a question about whether the third-term GOP governor has overreached. Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Abbott sent out a fundraising email that said, “Let’s get school choice over the finish line. Join the fight for education freedom and parental empowerment with a small contribution today!” Eze insisted discussions between the governor’s office and lieutenants of House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, were still underway… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

With court battles looming, Texas officials scramble to find a new solicitor general (Houston Chronicle)

The Texas Attorney General’s Office is searching for a new solicitor general just weeks before it’s set to argue several major cases before state and federal appeals courts. The office has not publicly announced a replacement for Judd Stone, who abruptly resigned earlier this month. On Tuesday, First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster posted about the vacancy on his LinkedIn page. “Many have reached out showing interest to serve as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Solicitor General,” he wrote. “Highly qualified candidates can contact me directly within the next 10 days.” The solicitor general acts as the state’s top appellate lawyer, approving and overseeing all litigation in state and federal appeals courts. The position has become a pillar of the agency’s strategy to challenge the Biden administration with a flurry of lawsuits over immigration, abortion rights and the environment.

environment. Former Texas solicitor generals include U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James Ho and prolific conservative attorney Jonathan Mitchell, the architect of the state’s 2021 six-week abortion ban. Stone defended the ban in oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court last year. Time is short for finding a replacement, as the state is set to argue several cases in the coming weeks, including one on Nov. 7 before the Fifth Circuit about whether federal law requires Texas hospitals to perform emergency abortions. At the end of November, the solicitor general is supposed to present on five Texas Supreme Court cases, including a defense of emergency exceptions to the state’s abortion ban and a new law abolishing the county elections administrator role in Harris County. The office typically has announced new appointments at the same time or within days of departures.

Every state but seven has a solicitor general or state solicitor office, according to the National Association of Attorneys General. Three of those seven states have de facto solicitors general who do not have the title but perform that function on the civil side…(LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

New US House speaker tried to help overturn the 2020 election, raising concerns about the next one (Associated Press)

The new leader of one of the chambers of Congress that will certify the winner of next year’s presidential election helped spearhead the attempt to overturn the last one, raising alarms that Republicans could try to subvert the will of the voters if they remain in power despite safeguards enacted after the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Mike Johnson, the Louisiana congressman who was elected speaker of the House of Representatives on Wednesday after a three-week standoff among Republicans, took the lead in filing a brief in a lawsuit that sought to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win. That claim, widely panned by legal scholars of all ideologies, was quickly thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court.

After the 2020 election, Johnson also echoed some of the wilder conspiracy theories pushed by former President Donald Trump to explain away his loss. Then Johnson voted against certifying Biden’s win even after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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